HC Deb 29 July 1976 vol 916 c374W
Miss Joan Lestor

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if Her Majesty's Government will give an undertaking that, in the Order in Council to be presented as a result of the present informal constitutional talks with the Government of the Gilbert Islands colony, the district of Ocean Island will be specifically excluded from the provisions of the Order pending a decision by Her Majesty's Government on the Banabans' petition for independence submitted over two years ago.

Mr. Rowlands

Ocean Island's constitutional status as part of the Gilbert Islands remains unaffected by the territory's advance to internal self-government, as do Banaban rights regarding Ocean Island.